Fighting Irish 2008 Season Recap

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Fighting Irish 2008 Season Recap
By NICO PERRINO, MOP Squad Sports Staff Writer
Dec 2, 2007 - 9:07:12 PM

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There is no doubt that this year was a disappointing season for many of the Notre Dame faithful, myself included. The Fighting Irish’s 3-9 record is a far cry from where many thought they would be this year. The return of 5th-year seniors Tom Zbikowski, Travis Thomas, Trevor Laws, and John Sullivan just to name a few, was reason enough for many to believe this could be the year Notre Dame won it's first bowl game since the Holtz era.

Trevor Laws celebrates win against Duke in final home game at Notre Dame (Darron Cummings / AP)

But in true Notre Dame fashion, fans had expectations for this team well above it’s talent level.

One criticism of Charlie Weis is that he coached .500 talent like a team destined to go undefeated. As many players who have gone through the Division one football system will say "you coach teams with different talent levels differently," and many people believe he did a poor job of evaluating his talent.

Although Notre Dame did return many 5th-year seniors, their true seniors, juniors, and sophomores have vastly underachieved since they set foot on campus. This year's 4th year seniors come from Tyrone Willingham's worst recruiting class at Notre Dame, but the class was still better than schools such as Texas Tech, South Carolina, Wisconsin,Virginia Tech, South Florida, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Illinois whose classes ranked lower than Notre Dame’s did but still had successful seasons. The late great Woody Hayes once said "A team is only as good as its seniors" and this crop of Notre Dame Seniors were terrible. They lacked leadership ability, and even the skill to find playing time during the year.

Those who could stand to watch the Irish this year probably noticed the amount of playing time this year's freshman received. Players such as golden boy Jimmy Clausen, Armando Allen, Robert Hughes, and Duval Kamara dominated the offensive roles this year, giving reason to believe the future is bright for the Irish, setting the expectations even higher for the years to come. The top-five recruiting class was able to bear the brunt of the work that the upperclassmen could not, although the inexperience was evident on the field as displayed in the 0-5 start to the season, the worst start to a season in Irish history.

If this year's freshmen still do not give you hope for the future than look no further than this year’s incoming freshman recruiting class. Currently, Notre Dame has the number one class in the country, in front schools such as powerhouses Ohio State and Florida and rivals Michigan and USC.

Currently residing in Chicago, I have seen some of the talent pool Notre Dame has taken from the area. Steven Filer, and Darius Fleming, both linebackers, are some of the most dominating at the position in the country and certainly the best to come from the Chicago Public league in a long time.

For those unsure about Jimmy Clausen's future as starting quarterback for the Irish look no further Dayne Crist, Clausen’s predecessor as king of California football. Standing at 6-5, 228 pounds, Rvals gives Crist five stars. The large frame of Crist is sure to give the Notre Dame offense another dimension with the inclusion of his 4.66 speed into the game plan.

In a year when Notre Dame lost many of its great traditions, including its 43-game winning streak against Navy, there is no reason for fans to believe the echo's below the outstretched arms of touchdown Jesus will never awaken again.